Fairy fort / stone ringfort in Carricknahorna

In rocky pasture, located at the W edge of a limestone ridge, where ground falls abruptly giving excellent views SW-NW over lower-lying undulating pasture, with an expanse of marsh at NW. A gently undulating plateau of karst extends to N and E of the cashel, overlooked by higher hills at N and at ESE. Circular area (20m N-S; c. 19m E-W) enclosed by the collapsed and robbed-out remnants of a drystone wall. The wall is evident as a very low, moss-covered stone bank or spread, varying in width from c. 3m at N-NE to c. 5-6m at SE. A short section of more clearly defined wall footings at E suggests that the original width of the wall may have been c. 2m. At SW-NW the curve of the external wall face coincides with the natural break of slope at the W edge of the ridge. The remnants of a later N-S field wall overlie the cashel wall here. There are very low areas or breaks in the wall at S (Wth 1m) and at NW (Wth 2m). Another gap at E is now partly blocked by a rectangular stone-built vernacular structure (4m E-W, c. 5m N-S) which is built into the external rubble face of the cashel wall. A low bank (Wth c. 1- 1.5m) of loose rubble/large stones lies 3m outside the cashel wall, curving from SE-S and intersecting at SW with an extant field wall. It is not clear if this is the remnants of an external cashel wall, or merely a later field wall that respected the curve of the cashel. Compiled by: Jane O'Shaughnessy Date of upload: 18 May 2015